


Hope and Humanity

by spider_ranger



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, Spoilers for Crisis on Infinite Earths Crossover Event (CW DC TV Universe)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-18
Updated: 2019-12-18
Packaged: 2021-02-18 08:02:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21840922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spider_ranger/pseuds/spider_ranger
Summary: A few more seconds passed before the final Paragon was revealed.Lena Luthor; the Paragon of Humanity.Kara’s stomach dropped.Lena and Kara are still on the outs. What happens when Lena is revealed to be one of the Paragons that is supposed to save the Multiverse? Can she set aside her feelings and doubts?
Relationships: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor
Comments: 5
Kudos: 284





	Hope and Humanity

**Earth-1: The Waverider**

Time was running out. Earth after Earth being wiped out at a dangerous pace. They needed to work fast.

According to the Monitor (a guy they very reluctantly trusted), the seven Paragons were the key to defeating the Anti-Monitor and saving the multiverse. Or at least what was left of it. Four of them have been discovered and are safely aboard the Waverider.

Kate Kane aka Batwoman; the Paragon of Courage. Sara Lance aka White Canary; the Paragon of Destiny. Clark Kent aka Superman of Earth-96; the Paragon of Truth. And of course, Kara Zor-el Danvers aka Supergirl; the Paragon of Hope.

_Ironic. Because I’m pretty sure this is the least hopeful I’ve ever been._

The heroes nor the Monitor had any idea who or what the last three Paragons were. Enter Ray Palmer, who was putting the finishing touches on the device that would, hopefully, discover the remaining Paragons.

“I think we did it!” Ray exclaimed, Cisco Ramon working by his side to get the machine up and running. “I think we fixed it.”

The screen loaded and showed the four Paragons that have already been identified. Kate scoffed impatiently.

“Guys, we already know all this.”

“It’s buffering.” Cisco shot back. “So, maybe a little patience.”

After a few moments, the machine picked up on another Paragon. J’onn J’onzz aka Martian Manhunter; the Paragon of Honor.

“Huh. Why am I not surprised?” Kara commented.

Another Paragon appeared on screen a second later. Barry Allen aka The Flash; the Paragon of Love.

“Um, that’s...new.” Barry said confused while looking over to his wife, Iris Wes-Allen. She simply looked up at him with a knowing smile.

A few more seconds passed before the final Paragon was revealed.

Lena Luthor; the Paragon of Humanity.

Kara’s stomach dropped.

_No. No, no, no. I will not get her involved in this._

“Um, who is that?” Ralph Dibney interjected.

“Lena.” Kara breathed out. She inched closer to the screen, making sure what she saw was true.

Kate raised her eyebrow. “You know her?”

“Yeah, she’s my best friend. Sort of. I think.” Before Kate could figure out what she meant by that, she was cut off.

“What’s her name?” Cisco asked.

“Lena Luthor.”

“Luthor!?” Clark from Earth-96 exclaimed. Her Clark looking over at the altercation with caution. He knew how highly his cousin spoke of Lena, but he was always hesitant to trust a Luthor as well. Especially now, considering the one they had locked on board just got finished killing almost every Superman in the multiverse.

“Yes. Lex’s sister on my earth, but she’s not like him!” Kara immediately turned on the Paragon of Truth. Always ready to defend Lena. “She hates him just as much as you do, hell she even put two bullet holes in his chest before this guy decided it was a good idea to bring him back to life. She’s the reason three billion people from my Earth are still alive. She’s good.”

The Paragon of Truth looked over at the screen for a second before looking down at Kara.

“Trust me.”

He hesitated for another moment before conceding.

“Alright. She is a Paragon after all, so she can’t be too bad.”

“Thank you.”

“So…” Sara cut in. “Since you’re best friends and all, it shouldn’t be too hard to convince her to come help save the multiverse right?”

“Well, uh…she actually, kind of… hates me right now.”

“So that’s what you meant. Damn.” Kate said.

“What are you talking about?”

“Well, honestly, when you said ‘Sort of’ I thought it was more of a dating situation. It would make sense, you speak very highly of her.” Kate smirked and Kara chuckled awkwardly.

“Whaaaat? Me and Lena? No. No no nooo way. I mean… I wouldn’t…well I guess, I don’t….I mean, I really-” Kara stuttered but Kate, thankfully, stopped her.

“Danvers, I’d love to sit here and watch you work your way up to that realization, but we kind of don’t have that time.”

“Right.” Kara coughed and scratched the back of her neck. “Well, anyway, Lena might not be super receptive if I’m the one who tries to convince her.”

“I’ll go.” Iris chipped in.

“I’ll come with.” Sara added. “Where is she, Cisco?”

“One second here.” Cisco checked his tablet, searching for Lena’s signature. “Got it. Lena is in National City on Earth-1. One of the Homeless shelters downtown.”

“She’s probably with the rest of the refugees from my Earth’s National City.” Kara said, bowing her head as she remembered the tremendous loss.

“Alright then. Let’s go.” Iris said as she pulled out the extrapolator. She hit the button, opening a breach, and stepped through. Before Sara got the chance to, Kara tugged her arm.

“Sara, while you’re there…could you check on Alex? And the rest of my friends? They should be with Lena, I want to make sure they’re okay.”

Sara gave a sad smile and a nod. “Of course, Kara.” And with that she stepped through the portal to Earth-1.

**Earth-1: National City**

“Okay, we finished the tally.” Nia Nal aka Dreamer entered the small office in the downtown Homeless shelter. Lena Luthor was sitting behind a desk with Alex Danvers, trying to contact governments, world leaders, possible surviving superheroes, anybody who could help give an idea on where to go from here.

“And?” Lena asked.

Nia took a deep breath before continuing. “Out of our National City’s population of 4.8 million, only about 2.1 million are accounted for.

All three women took a moment of silence, not sure how to take this in.

“That’s less than half.” Alex said in disbelief.

“Yes, but we should count ourselves lucky. A lot of others have had it infinitely worse. Miami, Central City, Detroit, completely wiped off the map. New York City only has a million survivors out of eight. Not to mention the thousands of small towns. That’s just the United States alone.” Lena said solemnly, growing sadder with each fact she stated. She ran her hands over her face, stress from the past few days starting to take its toll. “How could have this have happened?”

“I don’t know.” Alex said. Lena leaned back in her chair. She had no idea what to do now.

“Have…Have you heard from Kara?” Lena hesitantly asked. Alex and Nia looked at each other before back and Lena.

“Um…no. We haven’t.” Alex said.

“Is that another lie?” Lena raised an eyebrow.

“Lena-“

“Sorry. Force of habit. I’m sure you wouldn’t lie about your sister’s safety. At least I hoped you wouldn’t.” Lena said, smirking at her after a moment, causing Alex to chuckle.

“Are you worried about her?” Nia asked.

“I-“ Before Lena could finish, a blue vortex appeared in the middle of the room. Nia and Alex stood on either side of Lena, armed and ready to take on whatever stepped out of the portal.

Iris and Sara emerged in the room, hands immediately flying up in surrender upon seeing a woman pointing a gun at them and another’s hands glowing blue, also pointing at them.

“Whoa!” Iris exclaimed.

“We come in peace” Sara said cooly.

“Sara?” Alex put her gun away, Nia feeling safe enough to lower her hands now that she knows theres familiarity.

“Hey there, Danvers. Its good to see you again.” She met Alex halfway for a hug. “Too bad it’s under these circumstances.”

“Yeah. What are you guys doing here?”

“We’re here for Lena Luthor.” Iris finally piped up.

“Me?” Lena questioned, very confused of what was going on. Then again, after the past few days she’s had, nothing is outside the realm of possibility. “Why do you want me? And who are you?”

“Sorry, my name is Iris West-Allen, and this is Sara Lance. Also known as the White Canary on this Earth-“

“Nice to meet you, beautiful.” Lena’s eyes flickered to Sara, who winked. She simply quirked an eyebrow before turning her attention back to Iris.

“Anyway, we need you Lena. The multiverse has seven paragons. These paragons are the only people that can stop the Anti Monitor and save everyone.”

“Okay? What does that have to do with me?”

“Because Lena, you’re a Paragon. The Paragon of Humanity.” Iris finished and Lena’s eyes widened.

“Me?” She asked in disbelief. “How? Why?”

“Apparently, you represent the very best of the human race.” Sara said.

“I…”

“Look, I know this is a lot to take in. I’m a Paragon too. Paragon of Destiny to be exact, and I’m still not entirely sure what that means. Kara’s one too.”

Lena’s head shot up. “Kara?”

“She’s the Paragon of Hope.” Lena simply scoffed at that.

“Yeah. Yeah, of course she is.” Lena said under her breath. “I’m sorry, I…I need a minute.” Before anyone could say anything, Lena left the room.

“I’ll go after her, I’ll be back in a minute.” Iris said, leaving Sara to stay with Alex and Nia.

“Hey!” Iris shouted as she chased Lena through the hallway. “Wait up!”

“Look, Miss West-Allen, I’m sorry you wasted your time and I wish I could help, but I’m afraid I’m not the person you are looking for.”

“I’m pretty sure you are-“

“Well I’m not!” Lena snapped, turning on Iris, who flinched back. Lena sighed. “I apologize. I’m just…I hardly represent anything good about the human race. I’ve made terrible decisions, mistakes, I have terrible trust issues. I killed my own brother for god sakes. I’m nothing like a Paragon should be.”

“Really? Because all of that seemed very human. Well, except for the killing your brother part, but from what I’ve heard, he was a modern-day Hitler so people can’t really blame you for that one.” Iris said, trying to be light hearted. It worked slightly bringing a smirk out of Lena.

“Yeah, maybe not.” Lena frowned again. “You know, I’ve been through betrayal over and over again throughout my life. And I always try to come out stronger and better but…somehow betrayal keeps on finding it’s way back. Maybe my whole life has been a test for this Paragon thing. ‘What will be the thing to push the last good Luthor over the edge?’ I gotta say, I’ve been feeling pretty close lately.”

Iris studied Lena for a moment. “If you don’t mind me asking, what happened between you and Kara?”

“She was the betrayal that cut me the deepest. I’m supposed to be her best friend, and she lied to me to my face about who she was. For three years. Our entire friendship.”

Iris let out a breath. “Wow. Yeah, I get that.”

“You do?” Lena raised a brow.

“Yeah. Maybe not to that extent, but I know what you’re going through in that area.”

Lena looked at Iris quizzingly, her arms crossed. “How so?”

“Well, my husband is The Flash. I don’t know if you know of him, but he’s a superhero on this Earth.”

“I remember he appeared in National City a few years ago. Left as suddenly as he arrived.”

“That’s him. Anyway, his real name is Barry and we’ve been best friends for as long as I can remember. I also thought he didn’t trust me with his secret when I was the last to know. Hell, my dad even knew before I did. He wasn’t even the one to tell me, I found out on my own. I was so angry at him.”

Lena hummed in acknowledgement. “So, what happened? Clearly you’ve moved on if you married him.”

“We talked. There was some yelling and screaming and crying, but we reached an understanding. I know he wasn’t trying to hurt me by keeping his secret, but he did and he needed to understand that. Just like how I understand why he kept the secret in the first place.”

“And that was?”

“To protect me.”

Lena scoffed. “Yeah, Kara said the same thing. I guess that’s a common theme among superheroes, huh?”

“Flawed logic, I know, but it makes sense to them.” Iris chuckled. “Look, Lena, I might not really know you, but Kara does. She thinks the world of you. When the Paragon detector said you were the Paragon of Humanity, Kara was worried. The most worried I’ve ever seen her, even throughout this cataclysmic crisis. She didn’t want you to be at risk, on the front lines of all of this…but there wasn’t a second where she doubted it. She even defended you against another world’s Superman. Talking about all the good you’ve done, the lives you saved.”

Lena looked Iris in the eye, emotions flooding through her. “She did that?”

“Yes. And she’d do it again in a heartbeat. You’re the best of us, Lena. And you may fall down sometimes, and doubt yourself, but…that’s what makes us human. And right now, humanity, and every other species in the multiverse, needs your help.”

Lena thought for a moment, taking all of this in. Her feelings for and about Kara could be put aside. If the multiverse has chosen her to be one of its saviors, then damn it she was gonna answer the call.

“Okay. Thank you, Iris.”

“Of course. Now, let’s save the universe.”

**Earth-1: The Waverider**

Sara, Iris, and Lena, stepped out of the breach, back onto the Waverider. Well, more accurately, Sara and Iris stepped out, while Lena tripped over her two feet with far less grace than she usually has.

“I don’t like that.” Lena said, straitening herself out and brushing herself off.

“Lena??” Kara’s voice immediately filled the Waverider. She rushed towards Lena as fast as she humanly could, and engulfed Lena in a big hug. She didn’t care if they weren’t on the best terms right now, she needed this.

And maybe Lena did too since she didn’t push her away.

“I’m so glad you’re okay! Are you-Is everyone-?”

“Kara.” Lena interrupted her as she finally hugged back. “We’re okay. Alex, Nia, Kelly. We’re safe.”

“Good. Rao, I was so worried.”

“Me too.” Lena whispered. “I’m glad you’re okay, Kara.” She said as she hugged tighter.

Kate coughed. The two pulled back slightly to look at her.

“I hate to interrupt the tender moment here, but we should get to work.”

“Right.” Lena let go, rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly. As she did that, she looked over to see two Supermen looking at her. “Oh wow, there’s two of you? That’s new.”

“Yeah, there’s a lot I need to catch you up on. Do you mind if we went somewhere private?” Kara asked and Lena nodded.

“Yeah…of course. Lead the way.” With that, Kara lead her towards the back of the ship.

“Have fun, ladies!” Kate shouted with a smirk, causing Kara to glare back at her.

“So…End of the multiverse, Anti-matter wave, Monitor, Anti-Monitor…wow.”

“Yeah. Definitely new territory for us.

“You can say that again.” Lena chuckled, Kara did as well before becoming solemn. “There’s something else you should know.”

“Okay? What is it?”

“Well.. the Monitor has been preparing for this crisis for a long time, and apparently, he’s known who has important roles to play. One of those people… well maybe its better if I just showed you.”

Lena was confused, but nodded nonetheless. Kara led her through the halls of the ship, bringing her to what she assumed was the central control room. She looked around for a moment, fascinated by all the futuristic technology, before her eyes locked with the last person in entire multiverse she wanted to see.

“Hey there, sis.”

_No. Not him._

“L-Lex?” She breathed out, stumbling back slightly. Kara being right by her side to catch her.

“The one and only.”

“But…But I-“

“Killed me? Why, yes you did. I must hand it to you sis, never thought you had it in you.”

Lena’s eyes never left him, but directed her question to the woman next to her. “Kara? Why is he here?”

“I don’t know. The Monitor brought him back to life, I wish I knew why. Trust me, I hated it as much as you. He’s lucky I didn’t vaporize him on the spot.”

“Ooooh that’s dark, isn’t it Supergirl?” Lex chimed in. “So, word on the street is you are the Paragon of Humanity. I must say, that is fitting. After all, a race as feeble as humanity is all you could ever strive to be, isn’t it?”

“I gotta go.” Lena said, storming out of the room. Kara glared at Lex one last time before following.

“Lena!” Kara caught up to her. Lena turned around, unshed tears in her eyes. “I’m so sorry-“

“Why?” Lena interrupted. “Why him? Billions of people, good people, heroes, are dead. And that…monster gets to live?”

“I thought the same thing. I wish he wasn’t, believe me. Especially not after all the pain and suffering he has caused you.” Lena looked up at her. “You deserve better than this, and I wish I could give it to you.”

Lena looked Kara in her eyes, seeing nothing but truth and longing in them, and she lunged forward to hug the hero tightly, her head burying in her House of El crest.

“I’m sorry Kara. I shouldn’t have wasted so much time being angry at you.”

“I understand why you were, Lena, but trust me, the last thing I wanted to do was hurt you.”

Lena sniffled. “We have a lot to talk about when this is all over.” She chuckled ad she looked up into Kara’s eyes.

“Yeah…we do.”

The two locked eyes, a moment of passion and unspoken words between them. Unspoken feelings coming to light with a simple look. Lena looked down at Kara’s lips, the kryptonian doing the same to hers. In that moment, they began to lean in slowly. However, a booming voice in their heads interrupted them.

_“Everyone get to the bridge, now!”_

The pair broke apart suddenly.

“Was that J’onn?” Lena asked.

“Yeah, we should-“

Kara cut herself off as she saw two streams of bright yellow light coming directly for them. The lights surrpunded them for a moment, before one stream hit Lena.

“Kar-” Lena shouted but was cut short, reaching out to Kara before she was engulfed in the light and disappeared completely.

“Lena!” Kara screamed, though she didn’t get too much time to process this as the second light hit her and she vanished as well.

Next thing Kara knew, she was in a dark room that looked destroyed beyond recognition. She looked around, confused and frightened. She immediately spotted Lena across the way.

“Lena! You’re okay!” She engulfed her in another hug.

“Yeah, I am.”

“What the hell just happened?” A voice interrupted. The two looked around to see Kate along with Sara, Barry, J’onn, and Superman.

“Where are we?” Kara asked.

“This…is the vanishing point.” Sara said, recognizing the place where they were stranded.

“What does that mean?” Lena asked.

“It’s a point outside of time and space.”

“What happened to the Waverider? And the others?” J’onn asked, just as scared and confused as the rest of them.

“The Anti-Monitor.” Superman piped up. “He used the Harbinger to attack us. Pariah must have sent us here, knowing he couldn’t follow.”

“Well, we have to go back!” Barry shouted, clearly distressed about the status of his wife. “We have to go back right now!”

“Barry, we can’t! They’re gone.” J’onn said. The reality setting in for all of them. They were the last beings in existence.

All of a sudden, a red light emerged from Superman’s abdomen. Spreading at a dangerous rate.

“Something’s wrong.” He said, falling to his knees. The light spreading.

“Kal?” Kara stepped away from Lena’s side to inspect him further.

“Something’s wrong.” He repeated. He began to lean back, but Kara knelt down and caught him.

“Hey. Hey, Hey!” Kara said desperately. “Come on!”

“Fix it.” Kal said weekly, only able to repeat the same phrase. “Fix it.”

“What do I do?” Kara asked Kate, who was only able to stare in shock. Kal shouted out as the light engulfed him more. “No!”

“Kara, stand back!” Lena shouted as she pulled Kara back from the spreading light. The six of them watching on in horror as the light completely engulfed Kal. His body shifting.

When the light disappeared, none of than Lex Luthor was laying in his place.

“Whew. I am so happy that worked.”

“Lex.” Kara gritted out. “What did you do?” Her grip on Lena tightening.

Lex stood up, bringing his book with him. “Well, I looked at the book of destiny and saw you seven Paragons stranded at the vanishing point” He began as he took out a piece of paper. “And I thought destiny…could use a little rewrite.” He unfolded the paper, showing where he wrote Lex Luthor over the symbol for the Paragon of truth.

Lena took no time to step forward and land a sickening punch to his jaw.

“You sack of-“

“Now, now! Watch the mouth! That’s no way to talk to a fellow Paragon, now is it.” Lex said as he rubbed his jaw. Lena stood there, fists clenched, glaring at him. Kara glared at him as well, while the others looked on in shock and confusion.

“So…What do we do now?”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed! I'll probably write a second part to this once Crisis ends in January.


End file.
